Worth Matravers is a small village 3½
miles S.S.E. from Corfe Castle bounded by the English Channel on the
south and the nearby seaside Swanage 4 miles east. The parish in 1898
comprised of an area of 2,645 acres and the soil being stiff clay with
overlying limestone.

The church, St Nicholas of Myra, stands close to the
centre of the stone-built village and is one of the oldest in Dorset.
With a Saxon door blocked up in the 12th century the church is memorable
for its Norman nave, tower and windows and Early English chancel. It was
extensively restored in 1869 after it had become so dilapidated that
services had to be held in the village school.

In the churchyard is the
grave of Benjamin Jesty, a Dorset yeoman reputed to be the first person
to inoculate anyone with cowpox to ward off smallpox. View some photos
of the church while listening to the bells of St Nicholas and also an interior 360o
panorama of St Nicholas.

St Nicholas of Myra Church

The 12th Century chapel of St Aldhelm which stands on St Aldhelm's Head overlooking the English
Channel is thought to have once been a chantry where a priest would
celebrate mass for the safety of sailors. It is also now believed that
the chapel may have been built on an earlier timber structure that was
the centre of a pre-Conquest Christian enclosure.

For centuries Worth Matravers was one of the
main centres for the quarrying of Purbeck marble, and surface
workings of the old quarries can be seen in the hills around the
village. The dark grey marble supports the tower and spire of
Salisbury Cathedral.

The population of Worth Matravers
in 1891 was 229. In 1991 it was 603.

The Online Parish Clerk for
Worth Matravers is Sue Mills

Any enquiries please contact by email at the
following:

I am an unpaid volunteer willing to assist
others with their genealogical research
and should in no way be confused with the County Council
appointed Parish Clerk.